Bob Roberts (1992)

Written and directed by actor Tim Robbins (who also plays the title role), this 1992 mock documentary about an upstart candidate for the U.S. Senate is smart, funny, and scarily prescient in its foreshadowing of the Republican revolution of 1994. Bob Roberts is a folksinger with a difference: He offers tunes that protest welfare chiselers, liberal whining, and the like. As the filmmakers follow his campaign, Robbins gives needle-sharp insight into the way candidates manipulate the media. While the film follows Roberts's campaign, it also covers a fringe journalist (Giancarlo Esposito), who may have dug up the kind of dirt to push Roberts's campaign off the rails. Robbins captures the chilly insincerity of this right-wing populist and fills his cast with terrific supporting players, including Alan Rickman as the campaign's shadowy financier and Susan Sarandon and Peter Gallagher as a pair of airhead TV news anchors. --Marshall Fine Amazon.com

Left-wing satire of right-wing politics

"Bob Roberts" is a mockumentary about the senatorial campaign of a rich folk singer with a set of right-wing beliefs. Written, directed and starring Tim Robbins, who is well known for his left-wing views, this film cleverly satirizes right-wing politics and politicians (and the music of Bob Dylan). I suspect that how people react to this film will largely depend on their own personal beliefs. My beliefs lie somewhere between those of Robbins and his alter ego. I think that few people would have beliefs as far right as those of Bob Roberts, myself included, which makes it possible to laugh at Roberts' views, but at the same time I don't entirely agree with all of the things said by the left wing characters in this film, such as Roberts's senatorial rival (played by Gore Vidal), which are presumably close to Robbins' own views. Still, this is a well made, very funny and often disturbing film (with some really great songs), and regardless of what you believe, it is worth seeing if only to disagree with it (at the very least, it should make you think about who you would vote for if you were given the opportunity - Bob or his opponent).

Watch out for cameo appearances by a large number of well known actors including Susan Sarandon, Jack Black (thinner, younger and in a straight role), Peter Galagher, John Cusack, James Spader, Pamela Reed and Helen Hunt.
June 24, 2008

Scathing look at politics

A documentary filmmaker follows the campaign of folk singer-turned-senatorial candidate Bob Roberts (Tim Robbins). Roberts is ultra-conservative, espousing a return to pre-hippie values and saying it's okay to be rich and successful. His crazed fans idolize the flag-waving Bible-thumper but there's one man who casts aspersions on him: Small-time journalist Bugs Raplin (Giancarlo Esposito) claims he has evidence Roberts is involved with shading dealings, and Roberts' handlers don't like that one bit.

Tim Robbins wrote and directed this mockumentary, filmed in shaky-cam. It races from one campaign scene to another, painting a picture of a wholesome, inspired candidate who is above reproach - but if you know Robbins, you know it's all done sarcastically and in fact, shows Roberts to be a slick, prepackaged, underhanded liar at best and a law-breaking criminal at worst.

This film makes right-wing politicians out to be nasty and even dangerous hypocrites, so how much you'll like it depends pretty much on your own political slant. For me, it was okay, 3.5 stars. Bottom line: It's a good movie to watch during this election year. February 9, 2008

great film

Bob Roberts is very funny and if your shrewd enough to understand it all it applies to both parties in many ways and show's how blind Patriotism turns the fool September 7, 2007

1990s op-ed comedy

BOB ROBERTS (1992)
directed by Tim Robbins
approx. 109 minutes

This movie is Tim Robbins' deeply cynical take on Republican campaigning in the early 1990s. The movie follows folk singer Bob Roberts on the campaign trail as an investigative journalist tries to uncover his shady past. The cast includes Giancarlo Esposito (from Spike Lee's 'DO THE RIGHT THING') and award winning writer Gore Vidal as well as Robbins himself. This is a well made movie with great performances all around.

The idea behind the Roberts character is that he seems rebellious but endorses a socially conservative status quo agenda. There are several references to real life scandals and high level corruption. The level of satire is sometimes "dead on"... I personally thought the "scare ad" was believable and hilarious. Other times the humor is cheap and predictable, like the clip where Bob's supporters are shown giving him a Hitler salute. Anyone familiar with Robbins' own politics probably knows what to expect when the movie addresses issues such as the 1st Gulf War or Iran-Contra. But for a movie so critical, it doesn't really advocate anything. This basically makes "Anyone But Roberts" sound appealing.

The problem with this movie is not the jokes or even the criticisms, its the "Us. vs. Them" writing. On some level Tim Robbins should heed his own criticism: he uses the Bob Roberts character to pull a Bob Roberts move (alienate your detractors and radicalize your base). Robbins is absolutely right to say that politics have sunk to the level of a cheap pop stardom but he won't win any new converts by portraying them as naive cultish dupes. Obviously this is mostly used for comic effect, but I think it would've made a better (or at least more interesting) movie to show some of the "undecided" voters who were still making up their mind about Roberts. After all, its the undecideds that decide elections. Robbins isn't really interested in addressing that, though. This sort of shows how Robbins views American voters: they should've already made up their minds, and fit into the categories of selfish zealots or (presumably) liberal progressives. This "whose side are you on?" style is the attitude that has kept American politics at such a braindead level for so many years.

Kudos to Robbins for trying to shed light on the issues surrounding the National Security Council. The movie is also commendable in that it discusses CIA complicity in the South American drug trade. Its a shame the movie is so consciously divisive. March 22, 2007

Bob Roberts

Clever parody of the state of current American "politics" - sometimes too painful to watch. July 2, 2006

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